Your favorite tips and tricks

[The Xenoborg]

As a Marine (or a Predator), I counter an Alien's heavy attack, which would later cause them to light attack me, but instead, I block again and counter their light attack and get an easy kill. I can actually blow up Aliens with the Flame Thrower using this technique.

As an Alien in the Refinery or the Pyramid, I rarely use the tail attack from walls. Instead, I jump from the ceiling to the floor and back, continuously to avoid Plasma Caster hits and bullets, and when I approach my opponent, they would initiate their block, thinking I would either focus attack or light attack, but they're killed using heavy attacks + grabs.

In the Gateway, I take my Sniper Rifle and stand on the wreckage of Marlow, hiding myself in the fire and shoot Predators and Aliens fighting on top of the spawn point of the Combi-Stick, and Aliens hiding on the roof of the building in front of the Refinery in the background.

I also use my Praetorian skin, to scare new players with rank 1 or 2, in dark maps like Pyramid (especially Marines). Most of them thought I was the Queen. I won an Infestation match by killing 3 Marines who were in the lower area, together, by first stalking them for a minute and then going there, killing everyone of them while they just stood there looking at what the hell was making that scary sound. 

[AvatarIII]

As a Marine (or a Predator), I counter an Alien's heavy attack, which would later cause them to light attack me, but instead, I block again and counter their light attack and get an easy kill. I can actually blow up Aliens with the Flame Thrower using this technique.

that's exactly what you're supposed to do, but i'd say that's a skill rather than a tip or a trick, i just wish i was fast enough to see heavy attacks coming, i'm not so i'll generally dodge and block in the hopes that they'll light attack because my dodging makes HAing too hard.

i use praetorian skin too, but partially because i have no choice, i unlocked it before the patch that took away everyone's XP earning in SP, and i have it activated but if i were ever to disable it i'd have to rank up to get it again, which ain't happening

[The Xenoborg]

As a Marine (or a Predator), I counter an Alien's heavy attack, which would later cause them to light attack me, but instead, I block again and counter their light attack and get an easy kill. I can actually blow up Aliens with the Flame Thrower using this technique.

that's exactly what you're supposed to do, but i'd say that's a skill rather than a tip or a trick, i just wish i was fast enough to see heavy attacks coming, i'm not so i'll generally dodge and block in the hopes that they'll light attack because my dodging makes HAing too hard.

i use praetorian skin too, but partially because i have no choice, i unlocked it before the patch that took away everyone's XP earning in SP, and i have it activated but if i were ever to disable it i'd have to rank up to get it again, which ain't happening

Yeah, I pay attention to the ranks of my opponents, if they are anything above 15, they would Heavy Attack me most of the time, so whenever I see an Alien with rank 17 or 19, I would just melee attack them, in case a newbie player attacks me, I first check by melee attacking them, but if they still use their light attacks, I block and counter, kill and heal. 

So are you saying you cannot rank up further or something?

[AvatarIII]

i can, i just don't have a lot of time to play AVP, i have too many other games to play, and getting a ranked match is not worth the hassle, and that's assuming you don't get disconnected, or simply lose any xp you have earned which somethimes happens.

[The Xenoborg]

Yes, of course, you're the only person from the PS3 Game Night, whose timings correspond with mine. But we've never played. 

[AvatarIII]

yeah sorry about that :X this year i have been so engrossed in Dead Space 2 i just haven't played AVP at all, except on the anniversarry of release, and the last few weeks my net has been really screwy at the times i want to play online (it works perfectly before work when i can't play, or on nights when my girlfriend is around so i can't play

[Aether_Rayne]

Survivalist tip for Aliens:

If you find yourself being fired upon or melee'd by someone from the side or behind whilst performing a TK/SK, or even when you land that killing heavy attack on your opponent, your first thought is to run the hell out of there or try to turn around and attack them. This will just get you killed as there is about a second delay of returning to all four legs and being able to sprint/turn/perform actions again. If you find this happening to you, aim your reticule at a wall whilst still standing on your hind legs and jump. You can jump before the guy you just killed hits the ground. It's faster than running away, makes you far harder to track with a weapon, and you can sprint the second you hit the surface.

When performing an SK or TK, you cannot be stunned until you return to all fours. Chances are that if you have a pred pounding on you from behind and you survive to be able to sprint, the second you do so he's just going to stun you anyway and finish you. While on your hind-legs just as you drop the body, you're free to jump to another surface impervious to stun.

I've lost count the amount of times I've done this, survived only to see the guy that was attacking me, now getting attacked and me being free to jump straight back in there and claim both kills. Works especially well on maps like the Temple, Ruins and Jungle.

This works on the PS3 version. Not sure about others as I've noticed subtle differences like the Pred can be knocked down on PC vers.

Marine:

Shotgun and Rifle are all you need. Shotgun for short range, rifle for long. As a Marine your melee is the most vital thing to master. Whenever you see an Alien on a wall, or a Pred at focus attacking distance, raise your guard. If they focus attack you it's game-over. If they hesitate it means they're likely going to close the distance for a heavy, as soon as they get close enough, release your guard and whack them one. With the shotgun your reticule will focus straight in on them automatically and there is less than a second's difference before you can pull your double-barrel shot which nets you an instant kill. Also good to note is that the Pulse Rifle has about a half-second delay when using melee. Your light attacks and blocks will be slower. While it is a versatile weapon, being good for short and long-range, it fails when you attempt to melee with it.

Predator:

Predators are the gods of this game. If you dis-count the Alien's wall-tailing, they are the strongest in melee. They have the highest health, and overpowered weapons to boot. They also cannot be knocked down on the PS3 and 360 (I think 360) other than VERY rarely with the shotgun.

Plasma Caster and Mines are relatively skill-less weapons so I don't really have any tips for them. The disk and the spear, however, take quite a bit of skill to use to their fullest potential. When I play as a Predator I always go for BOTH weapons. And I use them both together. The best thing about the Disk and Spear combo is that you can use them in tandem with your melee. After throwing the disk you can immediately switch to your spear and throw that too WHILST your disk is bouncing around the place. It's important to note that it doesn't work in reverse order, IE you cannot throw the spear and immediately switch to the disk, but that's okay because that's relatively useless. I'm sure many people have noted that the best way to avoid Plasma Casters or Disk throwers when there is no cover, is to actually jump to the left or right. This makes you significantly harder to hit and Plasma shots will often miss you despite their auto-target. When you throw your disk and they jump to avoid, if you can see where they will land, and are very accurate with the spear, you have a stationery target for about a half-second. Spear = Instant kill. After throwing the spear, with your disk bouncing about, most players will be so busy trying to avoid your weapon onslaught that they're wide open for melee. If you're lucky your disk may even ricochet and kill/stun them before you get to them. It's all about keeping your opponent off balance and giving him multiple things to think about and react to.

General tip:

Never underestimate new players. Lower-ranked players are sometimes MUCH harder to fight than extremely experienced ones. It's the same principle as martial arts really. This is because of unpredictability. Most experienced predators will start with a heavy the second they see you, and will move round to your side. Or they will throw the disk and then focus jump, or whatever us experienced players do. This leads us to get into patterns of dealing with these effective techniques which leaves us vulnerable to the players that will focus jump you and then do 3 light attacks and then a heavy, or a light, heavy, light, light. I've been killed by a lot of new players that got lucky because I expected them to do what I would do if I were in their situation.

Anyway yeah sorry it was so long >.> Hope this helps those of you looking to improve.

[The Xenoborg]

They also cannot be knocked down on the PS3 and 360 (I think 360) other than VERY rarely with the shotgun.

A Predator (in PS3), can be knocked down if two aliens focus attack it, together.
I, once, counter attacked a Predator as an Alien and it fell down. I've knocked down many predators, alone, by counter attacking them. A Predator planting mines around, can also fall down if, an Alien quickly sprints by the area, triggering all the mines and then coming back for a single light attack. 
Same goes for a Predator using a Plasma Caster, if it ends up hitting itself.
If 3-4 marines, together, melee-attack a Predator, it will fall down.

As an Alien, sprinting around and jumping from surface to surface helps ALOT. An Alien is all about unpredictability. An army of two (or more) Aliens is indestructible, if they stay together always. I always follow the Praetorian.

A marine can use the flame thrower to set the Alien-Resin in the Refinery, on fire, to light up the area (for a short time) and brush off the darkness. Stealth works for marines too; they can be really-really cold killers with the flash-light off and hiding somewhere, waiting for the enemy. I prefer doing that with a few more marines around.

[Aether_Rayne]

Yeah you can also knock a Pred down with the shotgun if you double barrel it in a certain way that takes it's health down to the minimal amount without it dying. Never knocked one over on a counter though. I love that you know 3-4 marines can knock one over with melee. It would have been funny watching 4 marines all countering a Pred's heavy and seeing the Pred go flying 

[The Xenoborg]

Yeah you can also knock a Pred down with the shotgun if you double barrel it in a certain way that takes it's health down to the minimal amount without it dying. Never knocked one over on a counter though. I love that you know 3-4 marines can knock one over with melee. It would have been funny watching 4 marines all countering a Pred's heavy and seeing the Pred go flying 

It was a Species Team Deathmatch and one of the two Predators wasn't there, probably, and the Marines (including me) tried to melee-kill him to gain XP, since it was a ranked match. 

We should try that sometime; check out all the ways a Predator can be knocked down. 

[Sgt. De Houssier]

One month isn't a necro post right? I missed this topic initially. Anyway this one's for all the marine players out there.

Sidestepping the predator's plasma caster. Oh yeah! I love doing this when it pays off! Seeing that douchebag pred camper over there aiming at me and then I dodge his shots (wasting his charge in the process) and firing at him in between. Seriously this tactic is great against plasma spammers/campers. 'sniff' if only I could see their faces.

Although if they get pissed and actually pluck up the courage to come give you an ass whupping for making 'em waste their precious plasma charges be prepared to get killed or melee 'em up!

[Terx2]

Keep your backs to the walls as a marine.
As a predator don't underestimate you opponent. (Happened to me once I was ganged up on by 4 aliens coming from 4 different directions. Which one should I kill?)
Run as fast as you can and don't be afraid to retreat as the alien.

[predxeno]

Is there anyway someone can post vids of Alien and Predator light and heavy attacks?  Cause I still can't tell the difference between the two in multiplayer, I think I know what they look like but I'm not completely sure.  Also, is there a map guide that'll show me all the weapon locations of the multiplayer maps, especially the smartgun?

EDIT:

I also use my Praetorian skin, to scare new players with rank 1 or 2, in dark maps like Pyramid (especially Marines). Most of them thought I was the Queen. I won an Infestation match by killing 3 Marines who were in the lower area, together, by first stalking them for a minute and then going there, killing everyone of them while they just stood there looking at what the hell was making that scary sound. 

That's actually a good strategy that I thought up of as well cause it worked on me.

[The Xenoborg]

Is there anyway someone can post vids of Alien and Predator light and heavy attacks?  Cause I still can't tell the difference between the two in multiplayer, I think I know what they look like but I'm not completely sure.  Also, is there a map guide that'll show me all the weapon locations of the multiplayer maps, especially the smartgun?

EDIT:

I also use my Praetorian skin, to scare new players with rank 1 or 2, in dark maps like Pyramid (especially Marines). Most of them thought I was the Queen. I won an Infestation match by killing 3 Marines who were in the lower area, together, by first stalking them for a minute and then going there, killing everyone of them while they just stood there looking at what the hell was making that scary sound. 

That's actually a good strategy that I thought up of as well cause it worked on me.

There was a video of EXACTLY that floating around when the Demo came out. I can't find that video anymore. The video showed everything, from moves to counters, and how they look from the first person view and the other points of views.

[predxeno]

Damn.  I need you to find that vid.  Pleeeeeaaaaasssseee.